1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an improvement for mounting a laminated fuse to its respective support, suitable for use with the known screw-down fuse mounting method.
The object of the invention is to eliminate the risk of breakage and distortion for the laminated fuse during the tightening of the respective screw-down nuts.
The invention is particularly suitable for use in the automobile industry, specifically in the fuse-holding supports that make up the general safety group of the electrical circuitry of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the preferred field of application for the invention, that of vehicles, fuses are widely used in which the fuses have opposing flat ends equipped with bores through which screws or threaded rods integrated into the complementary support are passed, fixedly connecting the fuse by means of a pair of threaded nuts to the aforementioned screws or threaded rods.
During the nut tightening operation, necessary to ensure both the mechanical stability and electrical continuity of the fuse, these nuts rub against the fuse flat ends which they come in contact with. This contact by the nuts with the fuse flat ends during the tightening operation causing the flat ends of the fuse on many occasions to be distorted or broken.
In attempting to avoid this problem the use of round washers is known. The round washer takes the rotational friction stress caused by the turning movement of the nut during the tightening operation. This solution works when the mounting and seating of the nuts is carried out manually. However, it does not solve the previously mentioned problem for the nut tightening operation in automated processes, as the knock of the machine nut tightening operation instantly transmits the rotational strain to the fuse, causing frequent breaking or distortion of the fuse.